Corporación Regional para la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos

Description

CREDHOS, the Corporación Regional para la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos, is a non-governmental human rights organization in Colombia. It defends, promotes and protects human rights and spreads awareness of international humanitarian law. It was founded on 10 December 1987 in Barrancabermeja as a civic response to the humanitarian crisis in the Magdalena Medio region.

It is based in Barrancabermeja, in the department of Santander, and works across the wider Magdalena Medio region. Its reach covers around eighteen to twenty-one municipalities in Santander, Antioquia, Bolívar and Cesar, where it has revived local human rights committees. It pursues its goals through litigation, advocacy before local and national authorities, education and community projects.

CREDHOS trains community promoters in human rights, economic and social rights, humanitarian law, peaceful conflict resolution and citizen participation. It researches and documents violations of human rights and humanitarian law by armed actors, and files complaints with local, national and international bodies. It gives legal and technical assistance to victims and publishes a biannual magazine, a monthly bulletin, and weekly television and radio programmes.

The organization also takes part in national and international coordination networks and builds partnerships with other human rights defenders, governments and international bodies. Fifteen of its members were killed between 1989 and 2001, and its leadership was forced into exile for a period. It has since been recognized as a subject of collective reparation and received Colombia’s National Human Rights Defense Award in 2017.